Posted by Larry Hoover on February 5, 2006, at 10:37:29
In reply to A third Omega-3- DPA (Docosapentaenoic acid) ?, posted by RedSoxFan79 on February 2, 2006, at 0:07:48
> Anyone have anymore info about the omega-3 DPA. I never even heard about it till tonight?
You've got to be really vigilant if you're researching DPA, because the same name can be applied to both an omega-6 fatty acid, and an omega-3 fatty acid.
The omega-6 arises from the elongation of arichidonic acid, followed by the delta4 desaturase. The omega-3 arises from the elongation of EPA. They are differentiated by the position of the unsaturated bonds. The full names of these two DPAs are not the same.
In just skimming over some abstracts on Pubmed, I found a number of articles dealing with the adverse effects of omega-6 DPA, and others with respect to the benign effect of the omega-3 structure.
Humans tend to have similar concentrations of EPA and omega-3 DPA in the blood. I have no idea why the biochemistry of the latter fatty acid has been so largely ignored up until now.
Seals, being mammals, apparently have similarly high levels of 3-DPA (that's what I'm going to call it) in their serum and storage lipids. Maybe it makes more sense to use seal oil as a dietary augment than fish oil.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:605361
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20060130/msgs/606533.html